Brenda Walton

Cabinet of Curiosities

On a recent venture into the world of treasure hunting, I stopped by one of my favorite local antique stores, Cottage Girls. Contained inside a little jewel box of a house, owner Janna has created a gorgeous study in neutrals. While I tend to surround myself with a variety of different colors, Janna has created a restrained environment where only browns, creams and blacks exist. And it is truly breathtaking. 

Janna artfully combines unexpected textures like wood, glass, porcelain, pearls and sterling silver with organic materials like robin’s eggs, driftwood framed mirrors, and precious sea coral. Each exquisitely arranged setting is like a little still life, worthy of study. To enter this shop is almost like walking into a turn-of-the-century natural history laboratory, with the added advantage of being able to take home some of the artifacts!  

Cottage Girls is located at 591 Palm Drive, Carmichael, California.

Out on the Town

My autumn has been filled with some very enjoyable design projects here in the studio. I’ve been working on several new product lines that will be released next year. I’ll be sure to give you a sneak peek as soon as possible! 

But a girl has got to take a break from work now and then, so that means lots of early morning flea markets and retail research. There’s inspiration everywhere, and all of it swirls around in my brain and somehow becomes a part of new projects. I am always wondering what's around the next corner!

While at Fleuri, my favorite shop in Carmichael, CA, I found many delights to ponder and examine close-up:

…lovely paper crowns and chapeaux from Addison Endpapers, precious hand-dyed crinkle ribbons, crackled mercury glass ornaments…

…and buckets bursting with colorful floribunda roses. 

The owners of Fleuri recently returned from one of their regular hunting trips to France and returned with some rare and unusual finds, including vintage bags and boxes, and century-old hand lettered documents. This is one shop where the inspiration found on every shelf and in every product makes it virtually impossible to leave empty-handed! It's all just too beautiful to resist. 

 

 

Dreams of Paris

One of my favorite local gift and home décor shops, Fleuri, recently hosted its annual Bastille Day sale and Paris Flea Market. This is one sale that is not to be missed by anyone in Northern California! Attended by lovers of all things vintage and charming, this celebration extends from the sunny parking lot throughout the shop.

At the break of dawn, the parking lot began to fill up with antique vendors from far and wide, setting up their wares under festive tents and umbrellas, for this fabulous one-day sale.

When Terry, Leslie, Linda, Judy and I arrived shortly the sun came up, we quickly found wonderful vintage treasures to be discovered at every turn: sparkling chandeliers, unique furniture items and colorful linens from Paris. Oooohlala!

My Francofile friend Linda found a lovely hand-hooked rug for only $20 - an inspiration to all bargain-hunters!

Linda also found these sweet little doll legs, which will showcase her vast collection of French millinery flowers.

Inside the heart of Fleuri, we found even more irresistible Parisian-inspired delights:

If you’re in the Carmichael, California area on Sunday, September 28, 2008, you are cordially invited to attend Fleuri’s End of Summer Paris Flea Market! For more info, call 916.973.9848.

Discoveries

Every now and then, I find a shop that embodies all of the things I love under one roof. Fleuri, located in Carmichael CA, is just such a place. For the past ten years, a very talented group of women designers, collectors, and artists has showcased their talents inside this distinctive, Parisian-themed shop. These women are amazing stylists and create an inviting and inspired atmosphere.

Celebrating ten happy years in business, Fleuri continues to amaze its clientele with rare vintage finds, including large furniture pieces, home accessories, china, and unique gift ideas. It’s nearly impossible to venture in without finding something special to take home.

Delightful Victorian-inspired boxes, created by my dear friend Patricia Loftus, make beautiful gifts for Mother’s Day. The charming shop owner Sonia greets visitors with a smile and a cheery welcome as they enter.

One of the wonderful things about Fleuri is the carefully selected assortment of gifts and accessories. There’s the distinct feeling and aroma of being in a Paris brocante (antique shop), with all the excitement and fun of discovering rare and beautiful items.

I appreciate the creativity and talent behind Fleuri's beautiful displays. This shop is truly a marvelous gem, with something to delight the eye, everywhere you look!

A Coronation

Since the new Mira Collection was released, I’ve been busy playing with all of the colorful papers, stickers and assorted sparkley embellishments. My studio worktable is filled with the elements of several projects which are being constructed simultaneously (which is how I like to work). Everyone who visits the studio soon finds themselves drawn to this table, and inevitably involved in some kind of papercrafting project.

Recently, we had a visit from a delightful pair of eight-year-old crafters…our niece Emma (right) and her friend Sofia (left). We spent a sunny afternoon making paper crowns based on a fabric crown pattern created by my dear friend Paulee. The individual crowns are first cut out and then stitched together on a sewing machine. We lined our crowns with contrasting decorative paper, adhered using a Xyron.

The Mira Golden Swirl paper's elaborate die cut shape makes it a perfect focal point for the crown. The girls personalized their works of art with their names and initials, using the clear dome alphabet from the Mini Book Kit. They added final touches using metallic paper trims and exuberantly colored feathers from a box of odds and ends in my storage room. I think we were all amazed at how quickly this project could be completed. In just a couple of happy hours, the crowns were complete, and the girls were eagerly looking forward to their next birthday party or coronation!

Sofia is modeling a paper crown made by my eighty-something-crafting-marvel-friend Paulee Gomke. Paulee made this crown using only the Mini Book Kit, the Paper Lanterns Grand Adhesions and the Butterfly Grand Adhesions, some vintage trim, and her sewing machine.

Paulee’s elaborate fabric crowns have amazed and delighted friends for many years. They were featured on a previous post, A Mid Summer Night's Dream,

If you are interested in this great project, please download a template of Paulee's crown. Feel free to use it, to make your crown project easier. I would love to see the results!

In Bloom

May your springtime be filled with all that is lovely, joyful and inspiring!

A Painter's Garden

Doug and I were exploring the French countryside west of Paris last fall, enjoying views of rolling emerald hills and grazing sheep on our way to Normandy. Somewhere between the cheese and bread during our picnic lunch, I heard a little voice inside my head. It was my dear friend Cynthia, who said “If you are ever near Giverny, you must go and visit Claude Monet’s gardens!”

So, after buying a detailed regional map, slightly adjusting our route, and spending two hours longer on the road, we found ourselves in a charming, out of the way little town filled with centuries-old stone cottages, cobblestone roads, and the sound of robins chirping in the distance. A far cry from the bustling pace of Paris, it’s easy to understand why Monet would have been drawn to such an oasis of calm and loveliness. Giverny is truly amazing.

Claude Monet moved to Giverny in 1883, to design and develop the bucolic gardens which would become the subject of his legendary impressionist paintings for the rest of his life. It’s a spectacular location, with a darling two-story pink house covered in brilliant green ivy, a lily pond, wild turkeys and a breathtaking view of gardens, overflowing with colorful flowers, vines and fruits.

One of the first things I noticed about Giverny was the magical light, which fell softly upon the leaves and seemed to make every petal glow. Monet painted from dawn to dusk, reveling in the range of hues emitted as the sun changed positions throughout the day.

I loved strolling quietly through the grounds, stopping every now and then to sketch in my journal or to take note of the stunning color-coordinated garden plantings. To stand at the edge of the pond which served as the subject for Monet's “Les Nympheas” series is an unforgettable experience.

If you get the chance someday, you simply must go visit Giverny!

Weird and Wonderful

The legendary Addison girls have done it again. Twice a year, they stage fabulous Studio Sales at their Oakland shop, where they offer an eclectic assortment of European vintage items, often gathered from one of their antique-hunting trips to Paris. Each of the Addisons is a brilliantly talented artist, known for delightful letterpress designs as well as marvelous paper crafting and illustration.

When the announcement arrived in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago, I was powerless to resist… even the reality of arising before dawn could not keep me away! The beautifully letterpressed flyer read like poetry, promising a “Mysterious Accumulation of the Weird and Wonderful”: French silk ribbon, Victorian die cuts, unusual antique pigeon hole display case, fab vintage plastic alphabets, gilded picture frames and soooo much more!

Doug and I arrived an hour before opening, to see that a line of twenty or so people in raincoats and umbrellas had already formed in the morning drizzle. A favorite of professional paper crafters and antique collectors from around the San Francisco Bay Area, these sales are always well-attended. You truly never know what you may find, but you always know that it will be an unforgettable experience.

We came away with a bagful of treats sure to find a way into one of my next projects: a pair of porcelain figurines that will top the next birthday cake, antique rhinestone cabochons, an assortment of tiny beads, gilded paper Dresdens, a whole box of shimmering faux pearls and beads, vintage pipe cleaners, and rich damask fabric.

My mind is filled with possibilities, and I can’t wait to get out the paper and glue!

Sparkle & Shine

Doug and I just returned from an exciting week at CHA in sunny Anaheim, California. Each February, manufacturers and store owners from all over the globe come together to view the latest and greatest the craft industry has to offer, at the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. It all takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center, temptingly close to the entrance to Disneyland!

This year, K&Company debuted my newest collection, Mira,inspired by the brilliant colors of exotic spices. Touches of glitter and sparkling rhinestones illuminate the album and many of the papers and embellishments. We really added lots of bling for this line! 

I love attending CHA because it gives me the opportunity to chat with store owners and crafters and to hear their ideas and comments firsthand. I met so many lovely people this year, and received invitations to travel to Peru, Brazil, Mexico, England, Australia and New Zealand, to teach scrapbooking classes!

I also had the pleasure to meet the creative teams from some of K&Company’s new sister companies, EK Success, Wilton Industries, Dimensions, and Martha Stewart Crafts. In August 2007, K&Company became part of a larger group of companies, all of which are leaders in the craft industry. I am really excited about this new partnership and the great things it will mean for our customers.

Another highlight of this year’s CHA was connecting with several artists whose work I’ve respected for so many years. Among them, fabric and scrapbooking designer Heather Bailey and her talented husband, photographer Isaac Bailey, as well as Heidi Swapp, Dena Fishbein, Peter Horjus, and Anna Griffin.

Also debuting at CHA: the new Colette Scrapbook Kit. Perfect for gift-giving, Colette is sweetly packaged inside a decorative storage box. Included in this generous kit are a 12x12” album, 24 designer papers, coordinating stickers, rub-ons, Grand Adhesions, Clearly Yours, sparkling gems, and ribbons. Be sure to watch for it this spring!

Click here for a guided tour of all the newest K&Company collections, presented by the lovely Megan Thome.

New Soul

(A post by guest blogger Doug, my husband)

Each January for the last several years, Brenda has allowed our son Aaron and me to drag her to the annual Macworld Conference in San Francisco. It is here that all the newest, brightest, and most innovative tech products are introduced to an eager public. It's an amazing show that Brenda has reluctantly grown to appreciate as being vital for graphic designers. Her ploy is to pretend to be disinterested in computers so that I will feel compelled to take her to several of her favorite Bay Area stores, which will undoubtedly become the subject of future posts.

Many bloggers report extensively about all the new tech products that are released at Macworld each year. We could never compete with the expertise that goes into those posts, but this year we were able to see an angle on the show that made it fascinating for all members of our family: the tear-down. Brenda and I are normally focused on the creation of complex art projects, but the reverse is equally interesting. We watched from above, in complete fascination as the entire show was deconstructed in slightly more than an hour.

All this discussion about Macworld brings me to the real subject of this post, which ties in with the concept of tearing down walls. If you've seen tv ads for Apple's recently released MacBook Air laptop, you have probably heard the voice of the beautiful Yael Naim. Her new music video "New Soul" is simply delightful.

 

 

 

More on the amazing end to Macworld, San Francisco -